Different Side Of The Coin
by DarkHybridChild
Summary: Axess AU. Sequel to Mine. The time has come for Dark Blues to strike. Separating Netto from all of his friends and throwing him into a world of isolation, he slowly finds himself wondering why he even cared at all... DBxN. LONG AWAITED UPDATE!
1. Chapter 1

DHC: For all y'all who have been wanting more of Dark BluesxNetto, here it is. The sequel to "Mine" has arrived. Though I usually make it a point to not post things until they are finished, I suppose I can bend my own rules a few times... This is an AU of Axess and will cancel out Stream, however characters from that series will appear, as things would happen differently if this happened in the series. And things that happened in Stream, may happen here, due to certain circumstances. You may blame my plotbunnies and muses for the idea of continuing this. Anyways, with this said, I hope you enjoy the fic.

* * *

"Here, Netto. It's the vaccine chip. You'll have to wear Dark Blues out before you can use it on him." Meijin explained as he handed the chip over to the brunette boy who took it without hesitation. "I understand, Meijin-san." He said quietly. "There's no need for formalities. Just be careful." The scientist replied. "I will. Alright, Rock, let's go!" He said, looking down at his PET. "Right!" His Navi, Rockman replied. The brunette turned and sprinted out of site. Yuuichirou walked over beside the other scientist. "I hope this works." He said quietly. The other looked at him and nodded. "I know." 

Enzan had heard everything and didn't agree at all. He had a bad feeling and he knew the plan wouldn't work. He started to walk off, to go after Netto, but a voice stopped him. "Enzan." He stopped and turned, seeing Yuuichirou looking at him. "Yes, sir?" He asked calmly.

"I want you to stay here and help me with the Dimensional Converters."

"But-"

"Netto can handle this. And if you go, it may interfere."

Enzan stared at the scientist for a long time, unsure what to say for the moment. "How can you be some calm about sending Netto in there? I know what Blues can do, even if the DarkChip has altered him. I have a bad feeling, something's going to happen." He said. Yuuichirou regarded him for a moment before replying. "I am worried about Netto. But he chose this. His friends are more important then his own safety to him, and I as a father have no choice but to let him do this. On the other hand, I as a scientist can help him at least this much. I don't like him doing this, but it's the time where he can make decisions for himself. And Dark Blues is powerful; I don't like this, either. But it's what has to be done." Enzan listened, and took it in before sighing. "Alright, Hikari-san. What do you want me to do?"

----

Netto had attached his skates and was bladeing his way across to the place where the generators were set up. He was going to lure Dark Blues in, and then wear him down and use the chip on him. If everything went well, Blues would be back to normal and Enzan would have his Navi back. And if things went wrong... He shoved it out of his mind. Nothing was going to go wrong, he'd do it. He'd bring Blues back. He had no choice left; there was no room for failure.

"We're getting close, Netto-kun." Rock informed quietly. "Okay, thanks." Stopping an taking off his skates, he shrugged his backpack off and set them in a pile and walked the rest of the way to the abandoned hotel that he knew was there and took out his PET and looked down at it and nodded, signaling to Rock to send the email telling the others to start the Dimensional Converters.

----

"He's ready. Start up the generators." Yuuichirou said quietly. Enzan nodded and started typing on the keyboard, activating them, while Meijin monitored the stability of it. "Everything seems fine. Now we wait, and hope we're lucky." The shaded scientist said. Enzan sighed. He knew Blues would be there. The bad feeling he had intensified and he just couldn't push it away. He hoped Netto would be able to handle it. He had a feeling that Blues would be the one wearing Netto out instead of the other way around.

"Be careful, Netto..." He whispered quietly as he went back to typing at the keyboard, feeding power and energy to keep the converters activated. 'Bring Blues back... And bring yourself back in one piece' With that thought and a quick prayer to any deities and spirits out there, he concentrated back on his work.

----

"Dark Blues!" A large, deep voice boomed. In an instant, another figure appeared in a shower of pixels, grayish-white hair everywhere, red and deep purple armor glistening. Bowing slightly, the figure looked up at the being that called him through a blood red visor. "Hai, Laser-sama?" The Navi known as Dark Blues asked. Laserman stared at the Navi before speaking in that same booming voice. "There has been an activation of a Dimensional Area that is not one of our own. I want you to go and destroy the converters." Standing up, the other Navi smirked, turning on his heel, heading out without so much of any acknowledgement.

"Do not fail me, Dark Blues." The voice rang out through the place.

Dark Blues stopped, turned his head slightly, that smirk still there, mocking and smug. "Don't worry," He assured, voice anything but assuring, however. "I won't fail. You can count on it." Turning his head straight, and started walking again until he disappeared in a bunch of pixels. It was time... The moment he had been waiting for had now come. And he would make sure this would not fail.

----

Netto looked down at the PET. "Ready, Rock?" His Navi nodded. "Yeah, let's do this." The converters had begun to appear. "Well... It's now or never." Netto murmured. "Crossfusion!" Both Netto and Rock cried as the Dimensional Area appeared around them. Netto slotted in the chip and his PET glowed before he let go of it, the effects of Crossfusion beginning. Rock's armor started to digitize and appear on him, blending and melding together like a puzzle until it covered his arms and legs. His symbol appeared and attached to his chest, before his body started glowing, the rest of the suit beginning to appear. The helmet came last, before his face guard slid around, covering and protecting most of his face.

R-Rock heard a sound and turned, jumping away just as a dark ball of energy hit the ground where he once stood. His head snapped up, eyes scanning, until they found their target - Dark Blues. The dark Navi laughed. "I see you've gotten better since the last time we fought." The Navi complimented as he jumped down from where he was ontop of a beam and landed on the ground easily. R-Rock's eyes narrowed and he snorted. "Only because you failed to destroy the new PET." If it affected the Darkloid any, they couldn't see it.

"I'm sure it's not just the PET that makes you strong. Why don't we test how powerful you really are?" Dark Blues said, arm turning into a sword. Hardly giving them any time to react, the Navi launched at them, swinging his sword at them. Split second instincts kicked in and Netto leapt out of the way just as the sword slashed the ground where he had once been. "Long sword!" Instantly, the blade transformed on his arm and he launched his own attack, slashing down towards the Darkloid. With a smirk, Dark Blues swung his own sword, blocking the attack and they were now held at a stand off, blades clashed, trying to throw the other off. "Come on, Netto." The dark Navi mocked, putting more pressure on the other's sword. "I thought you were stronger then that. I guess not." With a snort, the Darkloid pushed the boy back, breaking the other's sword, sending them stumbling off balance. He started to swing at him again. "You're weak!" He cried. /_Netto!_/ Rock cried. They were falling back and it was only a few seconds, but it seemed like forever. Netto's survival instincts kicked in and he twisted his body, arching his back, hands shooting out, making contact with the ground before he pushed; swinging his legs over himself in a flip, the blade from Dark Blues just nicking him a little.

Standing upright once again, he glared at the other Navi, who only grinned in return. "Impressive, I'm surprised." He said. However, he didn't really seem at all fazed. "The fight's just starting!" R-Rock cried as he jumped forwards, leaping for the Darkloid. Dark Blues slashed at the other, sidestepping so they couldn't reach him. R-Rock expected it and held his arm up, it changing into his Rockbuster. He fired pointblank, hitting the other directly in the chest as he passed by, right under the blade and hitting the ground, rolling, before jumping up to his feet. A surprised cry met his ears as he saw the Darkloid stumble back in shock. Giving him an opening, R-Rock took it. "Wide sword," He said, arm turning once again to a sword as he jumped, swinging the blade in a large, wide arc at the lagged Navi.

A horrible sound rang through the air, as the sword hit the Navi's DarkAura. Dark Blues laughed. As he turned towards them, a smug smirk on his face. "You forgot I had this, didn't you? I give you credit for the effort, though. It would have taken the old me down, I admit." He said, a frown of disgust on his face at mentioning his old self. "Yeah well, I happened to like the old you better then who you are now." R-Rock spat, shifting his weight into a defensive posture. "Too bad." The other said with a careless shrug, before he slashed for the other again. Bringing up their blade, the blocked. But they didn't see the other blade until it was almost too late. Stepping back, taking the pressure off of their blades and spinning to the left, the imbalance caused the Darkloid to stumble again and Netto took to the moment easily. "Yo-yo!" His arm changed to the bladed-looking yo-yo and he brought his arm back and swung.

The thing swung out, in a curved fashion, finding its target and it wrapped around the Darkloid's legs' going around several times, binding the Navi's legs together. With a hard tug, R-Rock up heaved Dark Blues, sending him falling back to the floor. Walking over he put his blade at the other's chest, eyes narrowed. "And you said I wasn't strong? Face it, you're the weak one." He said harshly. Dark Blues said nothing. "I think it's time to end this." Netto murmured. /_Right, Netto-kun_./ Rock agreed. Activating the vaccine chip, they leaned over, sword still pointed at the other as they touched the crest. The chip ignited for a few moments before it vanished - completely no trace of it at all. With a surprised gasp, R-Rock didn't even see the grinning Dark Blues swing at them. They were sent flying back from the hit with a shocked and pained cry.

"You really thought that chip would work?" He laughed darkly, "How naive." Standing up rather sluggishly, R-Rock's symbol glowed for a moment before it healed him slightly. "This isn't over." Netto spat. Dark Blues smirked.

"I think it is." He said.

"And does it matter what you think?" Netto shot back.

"It should."

"Why?"

"Because," Dark Blues started, an evil grin reappearing on his face. "If you don't want your friends hurt, you'll listen to me and do as I say."

"You're lying."

"Am I?"

/_Netto-kun, we just got video mail from Enzan, but I can't open it. I can, however, play the audio back for you_./ Rock said softly. With a slight nod, and affirmative sound, he kept his eyes on the Darkloid, making sure he made no moves.

"Netto!" Enzan's voice was panicked. "The Darkloids are attacking SciLab! Don't worry about us, though. We've managed to get away for now. But you have to destroy Dark Blues now. The vaccine failed, so you have to! But you have to hurry otherwise-" There was a sound of crashing and the audio was cut. Their eyes were wide and they looked over at the other with hurt, glaring eyes. The dark NetNavi smirked. "Are you willing to listen and do as I say now?" He asked. Hesitantly, R-Rock nodded, knowing they had no choice. "Good. I want you to de-crossfuse." /_Don't do it, Netto-kun_./ Rock said quietly. "I have to. I can't risk anything happening to Enzan or papa, or any of the people at SciLab." He said. With a soft sigh and nod, R-Rock glowed for a moment, before the suit burst off of Netto in a shower of pixels, before it reformed to his PET and he caught it. "Now what?" He asked the dark Navi. "You're going to come with me - alone. With no PET, no tracking device - yes, I know they put one on you." Said Dark Blues at Netto's surprised expression. "It's in your vest and headband."

Unzipping the orange vest, Netto shrugged it off, the article dropping to the floor. He looked down at Rock, eyes misting with unshed tears. "Rock..." He said softly.

"Netto-kun?"

"I'm sorry."

"So am I."

"Goodbye..."

With that, Netto shut the PET off and set it on top of his vest. His hand rose slowly up to the headband at his forehead. He took in a shaky breath as he slid it off his head and lowered his hand to his side, fingers unclenching to let it slide off to the floor, right next to the electronic device. He turned back to the dark Navi who was watching him, face expressionless. "Get your backpack and follow me." He commanded. Netto hesitated for a few moments, before he turned and walked to the corner where he had put his backpack and skates. Scooping it all up, he put the backpack on his shoulders and walked back to where the other was. With a simple flick, the Darkloid's sword turned back into his hand and he turned, beginning to walk away, looking back behind him. "Come," He commanded coldly. Following wordlessly, Netto trudged slowly after the evil Navi. He looked over his shoulder, casting one last, longing sad look at the PET lying there on his orange vest.

----

"He's not moving any!"

"Maybe the tracker got knocked off."

"How? It couldn't be found!"

"Don't underestimate Blues, he's smarter then you think. Even if he couldn't find it, he probably knew you placed one on Netto." Enzan said amongst the bickering scientists, eyes narrowed. "He's not stupid. Why do you think he's the commander of the Darkloids? He's powerful, yes. But he's smart. He doesn't do things without thinking it through. I'm going there to see what happened." Without another word, the dual-haired teen turned, calling for his limo and exiting the SciLab building.

----

Walking to the edge of the Dimensional Area, Dark Blues stopped. He turned back to the human that was Hikari Netto. "We're here." He said. Netto looked up at him. "Which is..?" He asked quietly. "Where your new life is." The Navi answered simply. He pointed over to a small crate. "Go open it up." He said. Turning, Netto said nothing as he walked over to the crate, knelt down and started prying the lid off. The lid popped off and Netto fell back. Dark Blues snorted in amusement. With a light glare and a few evil thoughts, Netto got back up and sat on his knees to peer inside the crate.

He gasped in surprise.

His hands pulled out an outfit and his eyes looked at it with surprise. "They're your size. You'll have to change into them since I don't want anyone recognizing you." Dark Blues explained at the questioning glance the brunette sent him. Netto set the clothes aside and looked back in the crate. With another gasp, he shakily picked up the item.

A PET.

"What is this for?" He asked, eyes glancing over to the Darkloid.

"It's so I can stay with you even without a Dimensional Area. I'll always know where you are, and what you're doing." The Navi answered.

"...I see." Netto said quietly, looking away back down to the clothes and the PET. The PET itself was an upgraded one. Though it wasn't his PET 2, it would suffice. It was black, and had crimson red slashes everywhere across it. The symbol was just like Enzan's, except where the yellow was supposed to be, it was orange. "I suppose the Dimensional Area is set to turn off once I log out, right?" The NetNavi asked. Netto nodded. "I thought so. I will log out and I want you to dress into those other clothes and put your old ones back in the crate. Then I'll tell you what to do next." With that said, the dark Navi logged out, reappearing inside of Netto's new PET. The dimensional area dropped, and faded. Setting the PET down, Netto picked up the clothes, stood up and slowly started to change into them, whispering to himself. "Why am I doing this?" A tear slid down his face as he thought of the reason why. The thought of his friends being hurt was enough for him.

----

A car skidded to a stop and the passenger opened the back door and ran out, running over to the Dimensional Area, only for it to deactivate. Enzan ran in, looking around. He saw in the middle of the place a pile. He walked slowly over to it, and looked down at it. His eyes closed as misted at the sight. It was Netto's vest and headband. And lying ontop of the vest was his PET. Kneeling down, Enzan picked the electronic device up and switched it on. "Netto-kun!" Cried Rock's voice as soon as it came on. "Where is he?" Enzan demanded. Rock caught sight of the boy and his face was broken, confused, and upset.

"Netto-kun... Is gone. Blues took him. But what are you doing here? I thought SciLab was attacked?" Rock said. Enzan's face showed confusion. "SciLab attacked? Where did you get that from?" Enzan said. Rock glared slightly. "You sent it!" He accused. The dual-haired prodigy shook his head. "I was too busy monitoring and feeding power to the Dimensional Converters to send anything." He said honestly. Rock stared at him before the small Navi began sifting through files till he brought up a video window. "Watch." The smaller Navi said as it replayed the video mail.

Enzan watched quietly, eyes narrowing. "I didn't send this. Blues must have done it to trick you. And it worked. He knew Netto would give up if it concerned his father." He said. "And you." Rock said. Enzan looked at him. "Me?" He questioned, blinking. "Of course. You're Netto's friend. He considers you his best friend, and he didn't want anything to happen to you or papa or any of the people at SciLab." Rock said. Enzan sighed, standing up, grabbing the clothes and holding Rock's PET in another as he walked back to his limo and got in, commanding the driver to take them back to SciLab.

"Why does Blues want Netto-kun..." Rock wondered. "I don't know." Enzan replied truthfully. "I wish I did, though. I knew something bad was going to happen. If only I had come with him, I may have been able to stop Blues." He said quietly. Rock shook his head. "Hey, don't blame yourself, Enzan. These things happen. We'll find Netto-kun and get him back. And I know we'll also manage to bring back Blues." He said. "So the Vaccine Chip didn't work." Enzan said. Rock shook his head, ejecting the chips that were in the PET. "No, it didn't. It started to, but then it just...disappeared." He said.

Enzan sighed, rubbing his forehead. Things had gotten alot worse now. "I hope Netto-kun's okay..." Rock said unhappily. Enzan nodded slightly. 'Blues, what are you thinking?' Enzan thought to himself as he stared out the window. His grip subconsciously tightened on the PET in his hand. 'I'm going to find you and Netto and bring you both back if it's the last thing I do. I won't let Rockman go through this pain at losing his two best friends.' He promised silently.

* * *

DHC: Well, here is the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and will leave a review. I would very much like feedback. I will update Wednesday for you all. Questions and comments if you don't want to review can be sent to: SabataxDjango AT gmail .com Thank you all for reading this and I hope I won't dissappoint those who wanted more of Dark BluesxNetto. Until next update, ja! 


	2. Chapter 2

Netto was staring down at himself in total mortification and shock. His face was beet red and his mouth was hanging open. He was self-conscious of his body and how he looked. And this outfit bypassed his normal style of clothes a bit too much for his liking. He was wearing Black tie up shoes that had about a 4-inch platform on it - to which, Netto noticed - fit him perfectly. And next he was in rather short black leather shorts, which fit him snugly, taking to his form and curves rather nicely, giving it shape. But it still embarrassed him by how short and how **low** was on his hips. Next he was wearing a sleeveless crimson silk dress shirt. He left the collar flared up and had left the two buttons undone because it was bad enough that it was a bit small. But unknowingly, it only added to the look. His face was bright red, his eyes were unbelievably large, and his mouth was in an "O" on surprise. Picking up the PET that now contained the Darkloid, he stared into it. "What the hell? What kind of outfit is this?"

"A perfect one." Dark Blues said with a smirk.

"Why do you even want me to wear this?"

"So you won't look like you. Now, the next thing you're going to do is get rid of that hair color. You'll still be easily recognizable even with that outfit. You can choose the color, just make sure you don't look like you." He hissed. Netto sighed, running a hand through his hair. He rather liked his hair and the thought of turning it to another color was just outrageous! But he didn't exactly want to piss the Navi off; as such he held power over him. Gritting his teeth, Netto slid the device into his holster he put on from his other pair and stuffed his old clothes into the crate, picked up his backpack and put it on, before he started walking off, back towards the city, to find a hair dyeing store. "And how, Blues, do you expect me to pay for this?" He asked the Dark NetNavi. "I have that covered. Don't worry about things like that. Just do as I say without questioning and you won't have a problem." Dark Blues replied smoothly. With a slight glare at nothing, the brunette continued walking.

In town, he passed people and places, but nobody paid him any attention, as they were all blissfully unaware of everything that had happened. Navigating his way over to a store, he stepped inside and looked around for a person. "Hello, how may I help you?" Asked the girl who looked up from her book. "Do you do hair coloring?" He asked politely through clenched teeth, smiling nonetheless. The girl nodded. "Yes we do. Are you interested in dyeing your hair?" She asked. The brunette nodded slightly. "Okay. Follow me," The woman made a motion with her hand. Walking over, he let her lead her to the sink. "Do you want your hair cut or trimmed any before hand?" She asked. "No." Netto answered quickly. With a kind smile, the woman nodded in understanding. "I'll wash your hair and then you can choose what you want your hair color to be." She said softly. With a hesitant nod, Netto sat himself down in the chair and leaned back, putting his head in the sink.

----

"Enzan, did you find Netto?" Hikari Yuuichirou asked hopefully when he saw the two-coloured haired prodigy walk up. With a shake of his head, Enzan sighed, "No. Blues has him. He tricked him and took him." He informed, pulling Netto's PET and handing it to the scientist. "He left Rock behind along with his vest and headband." Yuuichirou frowned deeply, brows furrowing in confusion and sadness. "Thank you, Enzan." He said softly. With a nod, Enzan put his hand on the good scientist's shoulder. "Hikari-san, I promise I'll get Netto back for you. Blues has gone too far with his game, I'm not going to let it get any more out of hand." He swore. "Take Rockman with you, you'll need him." Yuuichirou said quietly, handing the PET back to Enzan who took it and nodded silently.

Nothing more needed to be said so Enzan turned and walked away silently, mind reeling, taking information in and processing it, only to come up with blanks each time. Hikari Yuuichirou watched the boy go, frowning still. He hoped that he and Rock would be able to get Netto back. He had a bad feeling still and he was afraid that something bigger then this was about to happen.

----

"What color is it?" Dark Blues asked from the PET he was confined in for the time being. Netto smirked. "It's a secret." Perhaps it wasn't the wisest idea to tease the Darkloid, but he had nothing better to do. And it was a warped way to get back at the dark being for making him do this. There was an annoyed hiss from the Navi and Netto felt smug. He hadn't really been paying attention to the lady who was colouring his hair, because it was hard enough knowing he was parting with his look that he always had used since he was a child. "Alright, let's get you over here in the dryer." The woman said. With a slight nod, Netto stood up, following the lady, trying extra hard to curb his curiosity to look in the mirror. He sat in the chair and let the woman mess around with the controls and stick his head in the huge round bowl-shaped dome thing and turn it on, air beginning to blow out of it onto his head.

----

Dark Blues was annoyed at the boy, though the boy had every right not to tell him. He smirked as he exited the PET unnoticed and logged himself into a place no one else knew of but the Darkloids. Making his way down into the darkness where he knew someone would be. "Who's there?" A voice hissed. "I know you're there." The dark Navi smirked. "Shademan." Was all he said. The Navi stepped over towards him, eyes glowing slightly. "You!" He accused.

"What about me?"

"Why are you here?"

"I'm here to request your...assistance, is it?"

"Why would I help you?"

"Because you're not the only one wanting to take out Laserman and Regal." Shademan stared at the other Navi with narrowed eyes. "Why would you want to take them out? I thought you were just their lowlife pawn." He snorted. The vampire Navi found himself with a blade to his neck and a red visor in his face. "Watch what you say. I could delete you right here and now and find somebody else to assist me." Dark Blues hissed. "What's in this for me if I 'assist' you?" The Darkloid asked venomously, hissing at the blade against his neck.

"If you listen and help me, I have a plan to overthrow Laserman and you can regain control of the Darkloids, and take over the world. I can't do it alone, I need someone who can work behind the shadows." He said lowly.

"And you want me to do this?" The other asked.

"Yes and no."

"What do you mean?"

"There's another who will be in this to help me. And this is one of the reasons I need you. Your powers...are required, however. You two will be the one's to help me overthrow Regal and Laserman. Then nothing will stop us from taking over the real world and the cyber world." Dark Blues said. "And why do you want my powers?" The shadow Navi asked. "Because," The kagemusha replied, beginning to tell the Navi his plan.

----

"You're done." The lady said, smiling as she finished combing her fingers through the teen's hair, finishing off the look. She turned the chair around to the mirror to let the other see. Netto took in a deep breath and opened his closed eyes. He was met with a sight that made him jump and slightly gasp. His hair was no longer the brown color it was. Instead it was different. _Really different._ Standing up, he looked himself over. It matched well with his outfit and he ran a hand through it, smirking at himself. He hated to admit it, but he was slightly enjoying this. _'No!'_ His mind hissed. _'You shouldn't be enjoying this! This is exactly what Blues wants. You can't give into this.'_ Netto sighed before following the woman up front again. "Your total is $19.50." The lady informed. "Put it on the account tab: 16143, the funds will be transferred within a few hours." Dark Blues said from the PET. The lady nodded, typing things up on the Keyboard until it beeped in approval. "Have a nice day." She said with a light bow. Netto smiled at her, leaving the shop.

"Well?" Dark Blues said impatiently.

"Well, what?"

"What do you look like?" He snapped, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Oh. Well, look for yourself." Netto said, picking up the PET and holding the screen up and eye level. The boy's face was still the same, but the shocking thing the Navi found was the boy's hair. It wasdark silver, with white ends in one of those "bed head" styles, which seemed to add onto the look. The Darkloid nodded his approval. "Perfect." He said, smirking. Netto almost found himself smirking back, but resisted and shrugged. "I figured it went with the outfit and since you never defined what color, why not take it after yours?" He said, putting the PET back in the holster at his waist. "It does compliment the outfit, I'm flattered that you copied my color." The dark NetNavi drawled. Netto was walking aimlessly among the crowd, getting some looks, but mostly being passed by and ignored – brushed aside like he was nothing.

He caught site of brown curled hair, and a black jacket heading toward him. He looked up and saw it was Yuriko. She raised a brow from behind her shades as she neared him. And Netto smirked at her that clearly said, 'I know who you are.' as he passed. He paid her no mind when she stopped and looked back at him with curious fascination. She had never seen the boy in her life and yet… She shook her head before straightening up and walking off, disappearing into the crowd.

"Where to now?" Netto asked. "To the weapons shop a few blocks down." The Navi replied. "Why there?" He asked. "You're going to pick up what I ordered for you." Netto sighed. "Fine." He murmured, directing himself towards the shop. The trip itself was not long, but with him thinking so hard, it felt like forever. Coming out of his autopilot, he looked up at the armory store before going to the door and walking in. The bells chimed rhythmically as he walked in. Looking around, there were various types of weapons everywhere. Swords, staffs, bows, spears, all different types of weapons. Some he hadn't ever seen before. And some looked custom made. It was slightly awe inspiring to say the least. "Can I help you?" Asked a gruff voice.

Turning, he saw a rather large, burly man at the desk. Walking over slowly, he smiled slightly. "I'm here to pick up something. I believe my Navi knows what it is." He said, smirking lightly down at the Darkloid. "The order number is: 6611459, it was ordered three days ago, and was said it could be picked up today." Dark Blues said smoothly. The man behind the shop stared at the boy for a moment; before he typed the number into the computer, it beeping and the processing information came up.

"It checks out, give me a moment and I will be back with your order." The man turned, and went into a backroom, leaving Netto standing there, waiting. He looked down at the PET with slightly angry eyes. "How long have you been planning to do this?" He hissed angrily.

"Ever since I first became a Darkloid."

"That's impossible."

"Is it? Who says?"

Netto had nothing to say back, he just glared for a moment before looking away from the screen, lowering the device back to his side, shifting impatiently as he waited. Thoughts wandered through his mind as he waited. _'Why?'_ His mind asked silently over and over. He didn't know the answer at all. He didn't even know why his mind was asking him that. The man stepped back into the room carrying a rather long box with him. Setting it on the counter, the man opened it and pulled out a small rod. It was made out of something rather solid, and had some designs along it. It was a silvery-white color all around it and there were two small grooves 9 inches from the middle on both sides. He handed it over to him. Taking it into his hand, Netto studied it more thoroughly.

It was rather light. But he could tell it would not break very easily, despite its feel. He tried to bend it, and it wouldn't budge. It was very well balanced and fit rather nicely into one or both of his hands. "There are switches there on both ends, press them." The man instructed. Looking, he saw the 'grooves' were really buttons. Putting his hand on one, he pressed it hard.

**Ssschwisch**

Another rod came out from the side, with a rather deadly blade on the end. Pressing the button on the other side, the same thing happened. Now twice the length it had been, and had blades on each end. It felt even lighter then before. Feeling along the smooth blade, he stared at it. It was made out of some metal he had never seen before. It was shiny and reflected like a mirror almost. But felt rough even among the polish on it. He made a yelp of surprise when he accidentally touched the blade. He looked at his hand. A small, thin, string-like cut appeared on his hand, red forming at the surface rather quickly, a trail of blood falling slightly.

"Aye. That's one of the sharpest blades you will ever find. Makes the cleanest cuts, and the blade never rusts or dulls hardly. It feels light, but don't think it can't hold against anything. Pressing the buttons again will make them retract, and all it looks like is a metal pole." The man explained. Looking back, Netto nodded. He had barely heard it. He was in amazement from the cut he got. He had barely touched it… "I hope it meets your expectations." The voice cut him out of his daze. Nodding numbly, Netto set the weapon back down. "How much?" He asked. "The money has been paid beforehand, there is nothing you owe. Enjoy that weapon, it's one of a kind." With that said, the man turned and disappeared into the back. Staring slightly, Netto picked the weapon up, twirling it slightly with one hand.

He admitted, it was rather nifty, and it seemed rather easy to handle. _'Stop thinking like that!'_ His mind chided. He turned around, and walked out of the shop with the weapon. "What do you think of it? Isn't it beautiful?" Dark Blues asked. Netto flinched slightly. "I wouldn't say it's beautiful. It's…powerful, yes. Dangerous, too. It's a work of art, it's something of quality." He answered. Dark Blues smirked. "I agree with that. I knew it would be perfect for you when I had them make it. It's made to fit you." Netto flinched again. He didn't like the fact that he was being used like this. He didn't like it at all. But what choice did he have? Dark Blues had him exactly where he wanted him, and he couldn't do a thing to get out of it.

"Where do we go next?" He asked quietly, his voice sounding far off, eyes closing lightly from the onslaught of emotions that just hit him. He wanted to cry, and he was angry, and he just wanted to curl up somewhere and hide for the rest of his life – away from everything. He wanted Rock back, and he wanted to be back with his friends, and his family. But somehow he knew he wouldn't be going back for a long time, if ever. "Follow this map." The Darkloid commanded, an internal map popping up on the PET screen. Netto stared at it for a moment, before he silently started walking, moving off towards the location shown on the map.

----

"I'm worried about Netto-kun… I hope he's all right. I'm afraid he'll do something that could get him hurt." Rockman said from his PET, eyes clearly showing distress and worry. He was on the edge, and anything could set the little Navi off. Enzan couldn't blame him. He was worried, too. But, he had to be strong. He couldn't show exactly how upset he was over this, as it would only make the situation worse. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, trying to think of anything that he could that would help him find Blues and Netto faster.

The only thing he could come up with was to just wait, and let Blues come to them, but that would be wasting time. And knowing Blues, he had a plan for everything. So he had to find another way. He couldn't just sit there and let Blues strike first, because he already had the advantage, waiting would only give him more of one. "Enzan…?" Came Rock's quiet voice. "Hn?" He looked down at the PET, noticing how vulnerable the little Navi looked. "Do you…do you think Netto's all right?" He asked hesitantly.

Enzan saw the worry, fright, and sadness in the Navi, and felt himself slipping a bit. He sighed again. He couldn't lie to the Navi, nor could he go out and say he didn't believe. Instead, he opted to say something else. "I don't know. If Netto's smart – and I know he is – he won't do anything to put himself in immediate danger. And Blues may look down upon those who are weaker then him, but I don't think he'd directly hurt Netto without any good reason. I think he may have use for Netto, which is what I'm more concerned about." It was mostly the truth. He left some details out, and he had the right mind to do so as he saw the Navi's reaction.

Rockman was panicking, feeling like he could just cry or burst – if Navi's could do so, that is. His stress and anxiety levels had just rose another good 20 points and didn't look like they were coming down soon. So Enzan said quickly, "But I plan on getting Netto back before Blues has a chance to do anything." He gave a light smile to the Navi, which he hoped would calm him down some. It worked somewhat. "I'll help you, I want to get Netto-kun back before Blues does something bad with him. If you need anything on my part, just ask, I'm willing to help you wherever I can." He smiled back, feeling calmer then he had ever since Netto had left with Blues.

Enzan nodded. "Thanks…" Rock's smile widened. "You're welcome." He said quietly. Closing his eyes briefly, Enzan went back to wracking his brain for anything that would help him find Netto and Blues faster. Opening them again, a small inspiration struck. Getting up, and retrieving his laptop, he opened it and pulled up a screen and quickly began typing, hoping that his idea would work.

----

Netto stepped down into an Alleyway. He was in the slums, and it was terribly deserted and to make matters worse, he was getting creeped out by the bad feeling he had. "Alright, stop." Dark Blues said. He stopped walking and waited. Two Dimensional Converters hit the ground and started generating a small field around them. Dark Blues appeared and smirked. "There's someone I want you to meet. I believe you know him quite well, though." There was the sound of someone behind him and Netto spun around, eyes widening, a gasp coming out. "Hello, human." The voice hissed.

Netto stared in shock.

"Shademan…"


	3. Chapter 3

DHC: Aha! I'm back with an update. And the conclusion to the cliffhanger! So, read on and enjoy! XD

* * *

"That's right, human, it is I." The vampire-like Navi replied, lips twisting into an evil smirk. Netto's eyes narrowed before he whirled around to face Dark Blues. "What the hell is going on?" He demanded. Dark Blues simply stared at him, not at all fazed by the boy's anger. In fact, he had been expecting him to react like this. He chuckled darkly and grinned amusedly, finding the situation all too amusing. "Shademan is here to assist me in my plans. He will help me, and in turn, I'll help him regain control of the Darkloids and we'll take out Regal and Laserman." He said lightly, as if he was talking about the weather.

Netto stared at him. He was nuts! Did he really think he could accomplish all that? _'Obviously so.'_ His mind said sarcastically. "And what does that have to do with me?" He asked. "You're going to help us do it." Dark Blues answered. Shademan smirked. Oh revenge was sweet. "I'm here to help…overcome your inability with things." He said, fangs glinting as he spoke. Netto's eyes narrowed as he glared at the vampire Navi. "What does that mean?" He asked hotly. The kagemusha sighed, the boy was clueless and although it was easier that way, it got annoying. "He means he's going to make you be able to enter the Cyberworld."

Netto's eyes widened. Him? In the Cyberworld? How was that possible? It seemed improbable to achieve. "Yeah, right. Me, in the Cyberworld. Get real, humans can't enter. I have no inch of data inside of me!" He said sarcastically. If possible, Shademan's grin turned even more evil. Sadistic glee flashed in them. "That's why we're going to make some data in you..." He said lowly. Dark Blues smirked. "Shademan's draining powers work on Navi's to drain data and turn it into energy. However… I suspect upon using it on a human, the results will create a portion of data inside of them. It would nullify turning your life-essence into energy, so it wouldn't work in reverse. It would merely just turn part of you into data. And if there's enough there, you'll be able to enter the Cyberworld."

The boy's eyes widened. "No way!" He said loudly. "There is no way in **hell** am I letting him come near me, much less let him **bite** me." He said angrily. Dark Blues was infront of him in an instant, dark aura springing up, as he looked angrily down at the human infront of him. "You will do it, unless you want your friends and yourself to die. You're trying my patience already. I didn't choose you for nothing. You are the most capable, and If I could do everything myself, I would. But I can't, and I don't want to say it, but I need the two of you because of your abilities." He said lowly.

Being this close, Netto could see through the red visor on the Navi. He had dark burgundy eyes that were filled with anger. He shuddered, eyes closing. He didn't want this; he didn't want to do this. But if he didn't his friends would be hurt – or worse, even killed. He would gladly die for them, but he knew Dark Blues would just kill them after he killed him. He didn't have a choice in the matter, and that's what upset him. He opened his eyes and stared almost lifelessly at the Dark Navi, nodding slightly. "Fine…"

At those words, Dark Blues stepped away with a smug smirk. He knew threatening the boy with his friends' lives would get him to do things. And he'd continue to do so until the boy cooperated without question. He wasn't fully intent to break the boy, but if he had to…he would. "I'm glad you see things my way." He said smoothly. Netto glared for a moment, thoughts of using the weapon he had in his hand was very tempting, but he knew he stood no chance of deleting either Darkloid. He wasn't strong enough and outside of crossfusion, it was hopeless. So all he could do for now was to do as they said, and hope he could find an open window somewhere to climb out of.

"Shall we begin?" Dark Blues asked. Netto looked between the two Darkloids and sighed, nodding lightly. He didn't like the thought that he was going to get bitten by a crazy, evil vampire Navi, much less did he like the thought that he was even going to enter the digital world after it happened. It was wrong, humans weren't supposed to be able to enter. It was defying logic, and science, and everything else that had ever been created! To be turned partially into data… He shuddered. He had to stop thinking like this otherwise it would get him in trouble.

Shademan licked his fangs and made a 'wheee' sound as he approached. "This will only hurt a little." He said in a mocking tone as he came to a stop infront of the boy. Flinching, the other glared. "I don't care if it hurts, just get it over with!" He hissed. "My, my, eager are we? Fine, give me your wrist." The Navi commanded. "Why my wrist?" Netto asked, blinking confusedly. "Because, human," Shademan said, eyes narrowing in annoyance. "I'm not going to kill you. If I were, I would bite you neck. The jugular vein pumps out more blood and it's closer to your brain, since it requires more blood there to keep it oxygenated. Your wrist is a minor place if I bit into your pulse, it would take much longer to drain you." He explained, waving his clawed hand dismissively.

Netto gulped slightly at the explanation. '_Too much info._' His brain said. He agreed. "Alright, then." He lifted his right arm up, exposing his wrist and forearm. Taking a hold of the boy's arm, he scanned the wrist, looking for the artery that would make the process much faster. He located it fairly quickly before he grinned slightly. "It's deep. This may hurt a bit more than intended because of it." He said in an almost cheerful way. Netto glared. He knew the Darkloid was having fun taunting him, and paying him back by biting him. "Shut up and bite me already."

Dark Blues watched with a slight smirk as Shademan bit the boy. He saw the pain there in the boy's eyes; but surprisingly, the boy didn't say or do anything. Not even a sound. But it was obvious the way the boy was standing, taut and tense as a springboard that he was in pain. To be able to endure something like that without a sound, he had to commend the boy. He was stronger then he looked. Which was one of the reasons in the first place he chose the teen. Thoughts ran through his head and his smirk widened. At the rate the boy was going, it would not take him long at all to either sway him or break him.

Netto felt…odd. He felt like part of him was changing. Of course he knew that part of him was changing into data, he just didn't think he would literally feel himself changing. Some things about him seemed to feel off then they normally did. He suddenly became aware of vibrations around him and began to see soft pulses from things around him. _'Cyber Streams…'_ He realized. The vibrations were the wireless connections and streams and the pulses were the streams that received and transferred data from the Internet. It was very strange and it was slightly freaking him out. The more he thought about it, the more he seemed to notice now. Like how if he concentrated on the pulses, he could catch bits of binary and data, understanding the coding, automatically translating it to text and words in his own mind as he did.

He was startled at that and his eyes widened. His entire body felt different and he felt slightly lightheaded now. And he couldn't help saying it outloud. "…I feel weird. Dizzy…" He mumbled. At those words, Dark Blues decided that it was enough. "That's enough for now, Shademan. We'll see if it's enough. Obviously the boy can't handle it all at once." He said. Shademan pulled back from the boy's wrist with another 'whee' sound. "I've drained about half of him already, if it doesn't work now, it won't ever." He said. Netto stumbled back, his vision doubling. "Whoa…" He began to fall, and was somewhat oblivious to it. The pulses from one of the nearby things seemed to be clear to him. He seemed to reach for the stream and almost instantly, it processed through his mind and just before he hit the ground, he vanished.

Dark Blues blinked from behind his visor as he saw the boy disappear. He scanned the area and Internet, finding a partial data code that was incomplete, but seemed to be in operating order. "Hmm… It appears he managed to link into the Cyberworld. This was successful. Well done, Shademan." He commended. The Vampire Navi snorted, before logging out. Dark Blues smirked, before logging into the area he thought Netto was in, the dimensional area dropping after he did.

----

"There's a report of a Dimensional Area in town. Enzan, I want you to check it out," Manabe said through Rock's PET. "Right. I'm on it." The link was cut and he walked outside of his mansion and stepped into his limo. He plugged in the coordinates to the driver and waited as they began to drive off, towards the location. "I hope Netto-kun's there." Rock said quietly. Enzan sighed. "I doubt he will be. I have reason to think it was either a diversion for a wild goose chase or it's a trap. Either way, hopefully we'll be able to find more things out." He said.

Rock frowned and looked at the floor of his PET. "I'm so worried. It's not even been a day and I miss him…" He whispered. Enzan smiled sadly, sighing. "I know," He said. Rock looked up at him and nodded. "I know I'm not Blues, and you're not Netto-kun, but for the time being, I'll try my best to be your Navi for the time being." He said. Enzan shook his head. "I won't expect more than you can offer. I'll do my best to operate you." He said.

The ride was silent again as they drove on. And upon arriving at the scene, the Dimension Area was no longer there, though there clearly were traces of something being there. "Hmm…" Enzan hummed. "Scans show that there was a Dimension Area and two Navi's were there. And… That's strange." He said. Enzan looked down at the blue Navi. "What is it?"

"Well, there is a partial data signature code here. It's badly coded, but it seems operational. It's strange that there was even a data code like this at all. It almost seems like half of something. I don't know what though. Maybe it's just my scans reading wrong." He said.

Enzan shook his head. "Your scans are the most efficient there is, if it says there was a partial code, then there was. I'm as clueless as you as to what it could have been, but I'm sure something like that can't be running around the Net long without being detected by other programs." He said

"You're right."

"Well, since there's nothing else here, we may as well go tell Manabe."

"Right."

With that, Enzan climbed back into the limo and they drove off, heading back towards the NetSavior's HQ to tell Manabe what they found.

* * *

DHC: Wh00t! I know it's short, but it's a story-filler thinggy... But I hope you enjoy it! I'm in the proccess of writing the next chapter so I have no clue when I'm going to update, so expect it whenever. If you'd review, I'd really enjoy it. Thanks! 


	4. Chapter 4

"Three weeks…" Rock said softly, gazing out from the familiar laptop computer that he now temporarily resided in. Enzan inclined his head, sighing quietly. "I know," He replied. "And I still haven't been able to come up with anything that could possibly help us find Netto." A small frown appeared on the prodigy's face.

Rock shook his head, casting a sympathetic and concerned look at the other. "You're doing everything you possibly can to try and find Netto, Enzan. I'm glad you are, but you're bordering along the edge of malnutrition and exhaustion. You're stress levels are way too high, and if you don't let your body relax soon, your blood pressure will rise and you may end up collapsing. I know it's important that we find Netto, but risking your own health isn't going to help much." The Navi put his hand up to touch his side of the computer screen, eyes shining with true concern. "I'm worried about you, Enzan."

Enzan stared at the smaller Navi quietly. Hearing that statement from the little Navi seemed to have a great impact upon him. The fact that the Navi cared enough about him to say it was a blessing. Without Netto or Blues there to constantly remind him he wasn't alone and that he was actually thought of, he had been slipping down into depression.

Hearing that someone else cared about him seemed to lift him up a bit. Slowly a small grateful smile appeared on his lips as he nodded lightly. "Thank you, Rock. You're a godsend." He said quietly. The Navi was taken aback by those words. "Why?"

"Because you care enough about me to express it."

"I've always cared, though."

"I know, but you never said it. Sometimes…even I need that assurance out loud. That I'm cared about; I've never had anyone aside from Netto and Blues tell me that."

"…I'm sorry, Enzan."

"For what? You didn't do anything."

"I'm sorry for you having to go through this. You've lost your Navi, your rival who also is your best friend. I wish I could make it right for you."

Enzan stared at the Navi, eyes clouded and weary. Dark circles were under his eyes and they were baggy, slightly puffy and red. His face was more pale and narrow than Rock had ever seen. "We'll both make it right. Together. I'm not very good at the "optimistic" and "hope" thing, but I know we're going to get them back." He sighed, running a hand through his shaggy, unkempt hair. "I think I would have lost it if I didn't have you, Rock." He admitted softly.

Rock looked slightly shocked at those words. Slowly, he smiled. "Then let me be your optimism and hope. We'll get them back, and everything will go back to normal!" His smile widened before brought other hand up to rest on the screen. "I think I would have gone crazy if you weren't there to keep me calm, Enzan. So we can be each other's sanity."

Enzan returned the smile before sighing lightly. "Okay," He agreed, before he went serious again. "Rock, could you email someone for me?" He asked. The blue Navi nodded. "Yes, who would you like me to email?"

"That Sharroian soldier, Laika."

----

Netto was alone, silently practicing with his weapon. It had been three weeks, and he was slowly beginning to sink into a depression. Three weeks ago he was introduced to the Cyberworld, three weeks ago he was forced to learn to fight. Three weeks ago… With a loud cry, the teen jumped and brought his weapon down hard, slamming it into the ground with his momentum. Twisting and using the pole as a vault, he cartwheeled over and lashed out with the pole.

Pausing for a few seconds, Netto sighed, dropping the weapon and collapsing to his knees. "This isn't fair! I don't want to be like this! I want to go home…" Three weeks ago he had almost had a breakdown, and the moment now seemed to be almost exactly like last time. Except this time, it wasn't because of an emotional overload - it was because of loneliness.

_**---**__**Flashback**__**---**_

"Where…am I?" Netto sat up, looking around. He remembered he was falling, and he remembered the Cyber Stream and that was the last thing before it went black for a moment. "You're in the Cyberworld, Hikari Netto." Netto stiffened, he could tell that voice anywhere now. "Why, though? Why did you bring me here? Why do you want me here? Why am I so important to you!? I was nothing before! So why am I suddenly useful now!?" Suddenly aware of the weapon in his hand, he pressed one of the buttons and not even waiting for it to come out, he attacked.

Swinging the glaive down, he was met with a bright red sword - the Darkloid who owned it, smirking. "This is why, Hikari Netto." The Darkloid pushed the boy back easily, swinging his sword in a large arc for him. Netto dove out of the way, using the pole to help him stand up before he pressed the other button on the rod, the pole growing and the blade showing. Now with the weapon fully out, he twirled it before he made for the Darkloid again, swinging one side of the pole out, meeting with a red blade once again, but he wouldn't give the kagemusha the chance to push him back this time. Putting his whole force on the center of the rod, he used his weight and strength to slightly push the Dark Navi back, before he stepped back and brought the pole straight. Lunging, wanting to skewer the Navi.

The Dark Navi saw this and dodged, using the opening and swung his sword down, hitting the weapon from above and sent the boy staggering forward from it. He then reversed the course of the blade and swung it horizontally towards the teen. Netto saw it coming and flipped the rod forward, away from him so that it was standing vertically. He brought it up and held it firmly with both hands to block the blow. The force of the hit sent the teenager stumbling back from the sheer shock, force, and recoil. His arms ached strongly from his fingers all the way back to his shoulder blades. The force of the recoil had left him jittery, and his hands were shaking, threatening to give out and drop the weapon.

He saw the blade swing again and he dove away, rolling out of the way before he climbed back up to his feet. His anger and frustration was slowly beginning to edge more into him, fueling his energy and sent his adrenaline soaring. He ran forward and used the glaive as a vault as he jumped up high, flipped the pole around and brought it down as hard as he could swing it, directly at the Darkloid.

Dark Blues swung his sword up, shifting his position from where he was standing to help absorb the shock and recoil. The bladed end hit the sword and it seemed like time froze. Both were standing there, weapons locked together, waiting for the next move. Then suddenly, Dark Blues backed off, and a few seconds later, his sword shattered.

For a split second, Netto just stared; amazed that it had happened. Then he moved, lunging once again, and swinging the weapon to the left, in an attempt to slice the Navi. He was met with a terrible clang when the blade hit the Darkloid's Dark Aura. "You forgot about this again, didn't you?" Dark Blues laughed. Netto glared, flinching at his own error. "I give you credit for the effort. You are powerful enough to hold your own outside of Crossfusion, that's an amazing skill. I wanted you for your abilities, Netto. Because no one else can do the things you can. I need you."

Netto looked taken aback before he frowned angrily. "You kidnap me, you make me change my looks, and then you drag me _all_ the way to some alley so you can make part of me data, and you're going to use me in your insane plans to take over the world!" He ranted, turning away and stepped a bit ways away to put distance in between them as he went on. "I don't want to be here, I don't want to do this, how could you tear me away from everyone I know and love, and why me of all people!? I'm not that great, I'm not some brilliant person like papa, I'm not a genius, I'm _nothing!!_" He screamed, putting his hands up to his head to hold it as he clenched his eyes shut.

"I can barely stay on top of my studies, I'm always late, you can never find any use for me outside of videogames and Netbattling, what point is there in using _me_ of all people!? I'm not anything special; I'm just me… This isn't fair! Why? Why! Why do you need me so badly!?" He spun around to face the Navi, only to come face to face with him. "I need you because of your abilities in Netbattling. You've learned so much from it, and your abilities inside of crossfusion. I need you for that. You're smarter than you let on, you're not a genius, but you're creative enough to make up for it, and I don't need you to be brilliant like your father. I took you away from everyone so that you could see the truth." Blues said softly, gazing down at the boy through his red visor.

"Truth? What truth? The truth that I'm alone?"

"No. The truth that the life you have been living is a lie."

Netto glared. "A lie?" He scoffed. "You're insane, do you know that? I haven't been living a lie, my life is perfectly fine!" The dark Navi sighed, shaking his head. "Only because you were never revealed the truth. You were never exposed to it, so of course you would think it wasn't a lie. But the door is there now; you can open it. You've been lied to ever since you were born."

Netto glared. "How would you know!?" He shouted angrily. "Because it is the same with every human." He replied.

"You live a lie. You're never told of your true potential, you're shielded from all the truths and so called 'lies' of the world, you're brought up to think and fit in like every other drone in this world, and you think all the people you know care about you?" The Navi smirked and leaning closer for a moment, "Think again." He straightened and turned, walking away. "Of course they care! I mean, they wouldn't ever abandon me or put me down or hurt me any!" Netto shouted after him.

Dark Blues stopped, smirking for a moment before he turned around to face the teen once more, face straight. "Oh?" He questioned. "They already have hurt you. You're hurt when you can't see your father as much as you like, you're hurt when your so called 'friends' make fun of you, you're hurt when your own Navi jokes about you, you're hurt when Enzan or what's his name, Laika is it, put you down. You're always getting hurt, but you keep giving them more chances. And if they really cared about you: Do you _really_ think they would have let you become a NetSavior at your age? You're in a world of danger from it. If they really cared or were concerned about you, they wouldn't have let you become one so soon. Of course, they don't really care if you're hurt or anything, because they're too wrapped up about themselves."

"Stop it! Just stop; I don't want to hear anymore! They care about me, they do! And who cares if those small things hurt me!? I can look over them because I treasure all of the good moments I have with them all! And they knew that even if they told me no, I would have done it anyways!" Netto yelled. "I'm old enough to make my own decisions, I can do things I want to do! I chose to be a NetSavior. They cared enough about me to let me do what I wanted!"

"That's a lie right there. I've seen the times you cried when no one was looking; I saw everything you did when others weren't watching. You cried, and you were angry at them. You wanted them to suffer, you wanted them to know what it felt like for you, you wanted to be recognized for your abilities, but you're not. But I'm giving you that chance, I'm giving you that moment. I'm offering you a chance to be recognized."

Netto glared. "I don't want it. It's a lie, a trick to luring me into joining you. I won't do it. The only thing you hold over me is my friends and my family. _That_ is the only reason why I am doing this. By force, not my choice. I don't want to do this, and even if I _did,_ I would _never_ join up with you. Because I could do it by myself, without help, without people getting in my way."

"Aha! You see, you're already letting your anger and frustration out. You just said people get in your way, and that you can do things on your own. I want you to do that. I want you to do things on your own, without me having to tell you, make you, _force_ you to do it. I know you can do it by yourself, and it would be just you, no one to stop you from showing everyone how powerful you are."

The Dark Navi smirked, knowing he had pinned the boy in his own lie and contradiction to himself. Netto glared, hand clenched into a tight fist, gritting his teeth. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, before turning away. "My answer's still no. I may not like some details in my life, but everyone has things like that, I can live with it, my life was just fine to me. I want to go back to it. But no, you just had to come and rip me away from everything and everyone I care about, and force me to help you in your sick, twisted, and evil plan to take over the world and spread darkness everywhere. I won't join you! Never! You'd have to kill me and resurrect me as a mindless zombie in order for me to join you!"

The silver-haired teen crossed his arms, letting his anger be directed towards the Navi, feeling calmer about the situation now.

"Or," Dark Blues said with a cruel smile, bringing his hand up and opening it, palm facing up, a dark purple chip and a glowing red and orange aura in the center of it. It suddenly roared to life in his hand. "I could just use this DarkChip on you and let it persuade you." Netto whirled around with wide, fearful eyes. He could resist the DarkChip in Crossfusion, but...as a human? Or with half of him as data? He took a few steps back, making more space between the two.

The Darkloid smirked inwardly, enjoying the fear on the boy's face for the time being, before he closed his hand over the chip, the power from it dying out. "But I won't use it. Not on you. I'll make you see for yourself the truth. You'll come to agree with me soon." With a flick of his hand, the chip was gone and the boy looked a little relieved, though he glared at the Navi. "Never," He hissed.

Dark Blues snorted, turning away and beginning to walk. "I'm leaving for now, and if you try to leave, I will know, and if you try to run, I will find all of your friends and kill them one by one. Understood?" He stopped and glanced back to see the teenager's face pale, before he nodded hesitantly. "Good," was all he said, and linked out.

Netto stared, glaring as hard as he could at the spot where the Darkloid once stood. He felt his emotions bubbling and pushing themselves up. With a shaky sigh, the teen dropped to his knees, hands helping to break his fall. His eyes clenched as he felt tears welling up in his eyes as his shoulders began shaking, and his breath coming in shuddery. He willed himself to focus, to gain control over the onslaught of his emotions and calm down. He wiped his eyes and took a few more deep breaths, forcing his face to go blank as he concentrated, trying to think of something pleasant.

He stood up numbly, walking over to pick up the Glaive where he had dropped it and retracted the blades, staring at the ground, his now silver bangs shadowing over his eyes. "I've got to stay strong, I won't let him get to me." He willed his face to smile, as he tried to think of a way to get away from this nightmare.

"I won't let him control me."

_**---**__**End Flashback**__**---**_

Netto was shaking as he sat there on the floor, arms going up to wrap around himself. He may have been able to push his emotions back before, but it was only delaying the inevitable. The fact that they'd come back, ten times stronger. The tears came, and his eyes shut, arms wrapping tighter around himself, hands clenching the fabric of his shirt tightly. He tried to will it away again, to calm the emotional typhoon that he had created, but he knew it was useless and gave up, waiting for the tidal wave to come in.

And come in, it did.

He cried. It was the only thing he could do, could think of, to get all of these unwanted emotions out. But the more he cried, the more thoughts seemed to come, and suddenly he was sobbing, burying his face into his hands as he did. His lungs hurt from trying to breathe, as well as cry, his heart felt like it was in a vice and he had no control over anything at this point. He wanted to curl up in a ball and die. Or hide away from everything. Anything to get away at this point.

He was stretched beyond anything he had ever felt before. It was just too much. He was falling, down, down, and he was plunging headlong into the darkness with no safety-net or anything to catch him. And his proverbial wings were broken. He couldn't fly, couldn't soar out of the hole he had managed to fall into. His tears flowed out, seemingly not wanting to stop. His eyes were red, they stung from all of the salty tears, but they just wouldn't stop and he couldn't grasp any control over it, he was too drained and numb right now to care.

He his arms had wrapped around himself again tightly and he just sat there, sobbing, letting his body sway from it, threatening to topple over. He couldn't feel his arms tighten more, couldn't feel the warmth from them, he felt utterly cold and numb. He couldn't feel the tears running down, couldn't feel his legs going numb from sitting on them for so long, couldn't even feel himself breathing, though he could certainly hear it.

His eyes shut and the tears stopped, though he kept sobbing. No more tears would fall, his body couldn't produce enough, so he dry sobbed, not caring at his protesting body, not caring anymore. His heart was far too in pain to care about his physical health. His emotional, mental, and spiritual health needed healing, and this was the only way to do it. Because if he didn't do it this way, his body would find another way to do it for him. If he didn't allow the emotions and pain to flow out, then he would burst, mentally and possibly physically.

He was so lost right now, thoughts were going a mile a minute; fatigue was setting in, but he couldn't have cared about it even if he had wanted to. He couldn't do anything about it, anyways. He was on the edge, the moment where he could either fly or break. He felt cold, so very cold, both physically and emotionally. His emotions were finally starting to slow, the tidal wave was receding. Now all he had to worry about was the riptides as he swam to the surface, to the shore, back towards the land, solid ground.

When he opened his eyes, he wasn't aware that he was standing. He tightened his arms around himself... Or he thought he did, but his arms weren't at his waist... Confused, and all together worn out, by all means of the term, he wearily turned his head, barely registering the red helmet and red visor. He slumped back, against the Darkloid, too weak and too emotionally and physically drained to care at this point. He was too busy trying to push all of his emotional barriers back into place, trying regain control of his thoughts, trying to reach a stable place in his mind.

His heart still clenched, though not as tight, and it didn't feel like it would burst anymore. He brought his hand, which was still shaking up to run through his hair as he took in a deep breath and let it out as slow as he could. He stared at his hand. His arm was covered in white. He was confused for a few moments until his thoughts straightened out enough to piece together things again and remember.

_**---**__**Flashback**__**---**_

"I think it's time you figured out how to use your new ability." Dark Blues said smoothly as he strided over to the boy. Netto suppressed the spike of hatred he felt towards the darkloid. This _definitely_ was not Blues at all. Then again, in ways, he was. He still kept to himself, was sarcastic in a lot of his remarks, as Blues tended to get when Enzan wasn't cooperating, he wasn't as soft-spoken as his other side, but he could _almost_ pull off the gentle sounding voice that could nearly convince anyone to listen to him. But a few little factors prodded him, reminded him exactly _who_ it was that was speaking it and _why._

"You're half data now, and you're connected to the net. You can process data codes just like any Navi can now, but as a human, I believe you have the power to _change_ it. You can perhaps bend the code, form it into something you want." He said airily, as if he were talking about going to the store or something. In all honesty, Netto wanted to smack him. To wipe that stupid smirk off his face, and scream at him, do anything to cause some physical harm. But he knew he stood no chance against the Navi at this point in time. Sometimes he could swear that the Darkloid would flinch whenever he got that dazed look on his face. And sometimes out of the corner of his eye, when the Darkloid was thinking, he could almost _swear_ that his frame would flicker.

Snapping out of his thinking he sighed. "What do you want me to try?" He asked with a monotone, 'I don't care, just get it over with' type voice. The Dark Navi snorted, and if Netto could see his eyes, he could probably bet he had just rolled them at him. He felt a small flash of smug pride at that for a moment before it was gone. Instead, he viewed to stare indifferently at the Navi, waiting for what he had to say.

"We're going to start out small," He said, grinning with a look that made Netto's fingers twitch. "You looking like a human here in the Cyberworld is just not going to work. You need to look like a Navi. I want you to try changing your data structure to look more like a Navi." Netto's eyes widened a fraction, and he was about to open his mouth to protest, but he thought the better of it. He _really_ didn't need to piss the Navi off right now. The Navi's wrath was scary when he crossed the line. Though the Navi didn't physically do anything to him, his used his vocal skills to inflict maximum damage.

And he was good at it.

He casted a 'are you kidding me?' look towards the Darkloid before snorting."And how," he began, "do you propose I go about this?" His voice was sarcastic with a hint of his disbelief in it. The kagemusha smirked. "You can lock onto data codes, correct?" He nodded lightly, confused. "So you're able to read and process them in your head. Find your own data code, and try changing it, will your mind to alter the code."

Netto stared at him for a moment longer, before sighing, and closing his eyes, deciding it was better to try this than argue with the Navi. He searched through the data codes that were flowing around and through him until he found his and tried to sort it out until he found the one making up his appearance. He let the code flow through him several times until he memorized what made up what. His programming skills were moderate, so he wasn't sure he could do much. Willing his mind to focus on those numbers, he began rearranging the numbers in his head, trying to force the coding to change.

Dark Blues stood and watched silently. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then... There was a small, white flash, and when it cleared away, he looked over the teen. He was wearing a white suit, with silver lines down the sides, wrapping around his thighs, his gloves had gray going along the sides and went around the wrist. His boots were light silver, with two white stripes around the ankle area. He had no helmet, nor a symbol, but it was an improvement. "Good, good. That's better." Netto stopped and opened his eyes, glancing down to look at himself. Well, it was better than nothing... At least he remembered the color codes correctly.

"You still need a helmet and a symbol, but we'll work on that later. At least for now, we know you can change the data structure in things. Now you'll have to work on it, so you'll get to the point where all you will have to do is think on it." Netto nodded silently, frowning lightly. He didn't want to do any more changing... He wondered for a moment. If he actually had to work on his ability, why not find something to work/test on?

Thinking, before turning away from the Navi, a sly grin appearing on his face. What if he could change Dark Blues' appearance so subtly he wouldn't notice? That'd be good payback! Closing his eyes and focusing, he held his hand out, as if reaching and searching, reading through the data streams again until he found a particular interesting code which was undoubtedly Dark Blues' and focused on it, concentrating, bending the code in his mind, changing it, reshaping it, reformatting the way the 0's and 1's went.

Unknown to the Darkloid who was standing there, watching, in deep thought, he didn't notice the ending of his hair changing colours. It went from its usual dark silver, to a light lavender colour. Netto stopped and turned slowly, willing away the smug grin as best as he could, bringing up his gloved hand to cover his mouth to hide the laugh that was threatening to spill over his lips. Wondering what else he could change, he began trying to focus on them, without 'feeling' for them and tried to subtly change small details on the Navi.

Soon, the black line around the top of his helmet was white again, the purple on his arms was yellow, and the orange around his symbol was now...pink. Feeling satisfied, he started thinking on how to improve his own look. He needed a helmet... Focusing once more, he felt it become a bit easier to find, and will the code to change. A brief moment later, a silver helmet appeared on his head, dark gray lines along the side, before going out into two-points as it reached out towards the back, leaving a lot of his hair falling down the side of his face and back behind.

He felt like he was still missing something, though... Thinking for a moment, he wondered... He knew he was missing a symbol, but he couldn't put his finger on what else was missing. He sighed and shrugged, deciding to leave it at that for right now. He was far too amused at the job he had done to Dark Blues to really care, anyway.

However, when the Navi _did_ find out, he was livid.

**CRACK!**

Netto stumbled back and fell backwards onto his back, gasping, one eye widened while the other one was teared up and trying to force itself shut, a red imprint across his cheek from where the Darkloid had struck him. The whole side of his cheek stung and even tingled down into his neck, and his eye felt like it was going to explode out of his eye socket. He sat up, gaping in an open daze, hand coming up shakily to touch his cheek.

"You would do well not to test the leniency and patience I have, Netto-_kun._" The Navi said slowly, voice low and deadly. The suffix attached to the boy's name sounded more like a threat than a respectful term. The white-clad teen didn't respond, he could only sit there in a dazed state, cheek throbbing and his right eye winced shut while the other blinked repeatedly, hand cradling his cheek. A tear rolled down from the shut eye from the force of pain.

The Darkloid stared emotionlessly down at the boy for a moment before snorting. "Change it back, now." He demanded lowly. Netto weakly pushed himself to his knees before slowly standing up. Still cradling his cheek, he nodded numbly before his other eye closed in concentration and willed the data in the Navi to change back to the way it had been. With a slight flicker, the colours vanished and recalibrated themselves back to their original state.

_**---**__**End Flashback**__**---**_

Netto shuddered, before struggling weakly, trying to push away from the Dark Navi, but was too weak to really be able to break the hold on him. "I'm only human; I can't be what you want me to be! I want to go back…" He mumbled tiredly, too drained to do much else.

"You're not just human. You're above them all. You are powerful, Netto-kun. That is why you're here now." Dark Blues answered, voice quiet, and sounding slightly softened to Netto's ears. But he was probably just too tired and out of it to hear the full edge. _'But I'm scared… I want to be held again, and loved. I feel so cold now. It's so lonely.'_ He replied in his mind silently.

The Navi's hold on him tightened slightly and for a moment, the boy tensed, expecting the other to do something harmful to him, but nothing came. Then, Blues' voice blew softly past his ear. "You can have anything you ever dreamed of having, Netto-kun," The white-haired teen's eyes widened. He didn't know he said it out loud! Or had Dark Blues suddenly become a mind-reader? "All you have to do is ask… You won't have to worry about being afraid or alone. You have me. Trust me, Netto."

Shuddering, the teen's eyes slid shut tightly as they struggled with their inner turmoil again. Dark Blues' voice sounded so warm, almost caring… Nearly like the real Blues'. He wanted to believe the words, he felt like he could. But his mind kept screaming at him not to trust the words of a snake, of a deceiver. His will and resolve were at their lowest and weakest, he didn't have the emotional strength to protest against what his heart wanted to hear and believe.

His head dropped and his entire body slumped weakly in defeat. The Navi's arm once again tightened a little around him, pulling his form back fully against him. And the white-haired teen didn't resist. His head lolled to the side slightly, sighing heavily. "You can trust me, Netto-kun. All I want is to right the world to how it should be. I'm against Regal's plan and I'm going to destroy Laserman and dispose of Regal when the time is right. And I want you to help me. You're the only one who can." Dark Blues murmured quietly in Netto's ear.

"I…" Netto tried to speak, to reject the offer, but he couldn't force the words past his lips. After several moments of struggling, he finally just nodded mutely, not saying yes or no to the Navi, but silently accepting the Darkloid's reasoning, even though he didn't agree with it.

His body relaxed fully, and his breathing went shallow, mind too exhausted to deal with anything else and he slowly slipped off into a sleeping state. Dark Blues said nothing more, just continued to stand there and hold the teenager's frame against himself, a Dark Aura flaring up around them a moment later. _'Soon, Netto-kun.'_ The Navi thought silently, eyes narrowing slightly behind their visor. _'Soon this world will be purged and you'll be at the center of it all...'_ With the slightest of smirks, the dark Navi picked the boy up and linked out of the area.

----

A plane's ramp slowly lowered, leaving stairs in their wake. And slowly, a figure emerged from it, stepping down the steps until they reached the ground. They were tall, and wore a long, green and red coat. Short aqua coloured locks framed a sharp-angled face and serious, calculating blue eyes showed nothing of what they were thinking.

Slowly, a black limo drove up and came to a stop and the back door opened, and a black, red, and green clad figure stepped out. Enzan nodded to the taller male. "Laika," He acknowledged. The Sharroian nod his head once in receptiveness and stepped over to the dual-haired prodigy. "Ijuuin," He replied, eyes flashing briefly before his entire expression turned deadly serious, lips turning into a frown. "What is this all about?"

Enzan sighed and motioned for the taller teen to get into the car. When the other did, he climbed in as well and shut the door, waving for the driver to make its way back to IPC. "It's about Netto…" He started slowly. The aqua haired male's eyes narrowed the slightest. "What about Hikari?" He questioned, a slightly harder edge to his voice was barely heard, but Enzan acknowledged it silently. Looking away, out the window, the boy sighed heavily. "He was kidnapped." He said quietly.

**TBC  
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**DHC:** Hooooooshit. Can it be true?! Have I really, really updated?! YES! Yes, fanpeople, I have! And guess what? I'm back in the EXE fandom! ALL REJOICE! And I am so sorry it took this long to update this fic. But I would like to express my sincerest thanks to every one of you who has reviewed and supported this fic from the get-go and the newer people whom found it and reviewed even after I'd left the fandom. It means so much to me! And, this chapter is a little sloppy since, I'm sure you fans will be able to see just where I left off in my writing when I left the fandom and where I picked it up. And if you can't, then I'm honored to know I didn't totally butcher it all! And I do hope I will stick around in the fandom long enough to satiate your cravings for updates in my fictions and perhaps post some new ones. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys are truly the greatest! 


	5. Chapter 5

**DHC:** Can it be? Can it BE? CAN IT BE?! CAN. IT. **BE?** Yes, yes it can! -choir forms, angels sing, and divine light shines down on all- Your prayers are answered, loyal fans! It took some time, but yes, I have finally updated. I hope you all enjoy this, I've been up nearly two and a half days straight writing this all for you!

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There was a long moment of silence before the Sharroian snorted, eyes narrowed even farther. "I'm not entirely surprised. He goes rushing into danger the moment it rears its ugly head. He's an idiot and doesn't bother to think things through." He answered honestly, crossing his arms. Enzan's eyes snapped over to the taller teen and narrowed into a glare. But before he could open his mouth to speak, Rockman's voice cut in.

"Laika-san, Blues kidnapped Netto… And he's been gone for three weeks. We can't find a trace of him and we've combed and picked apart every area we could think of to find him. We need you and Searchman." The screen to the left of them on Enzan's side lit up and Rock's worried, kind face appeared on it. Laika briefly glanced over to it, before scoffing again, uncrossing his arms. Next to Rockman, Searchman appeared, looking out at his operator. "Laika-san?"

The Sharroian sighed heavily, shaking his head for a minute, before looking back to Enzan. "Tell me details," He requested slowly. The dual-haired teen nodded and visibly relaxed a little before he spoke and began to recant everything to the aqua-haired boy.

Once finished, Laika's expression had morphed, he looked contemplative brows furrowed as he glanced out the window of the limo, not really watching the scenery pass by. "…I see." He replied after a long time. "The best place to start would be to go back to the start. Show me where he he'd gone to fight Dark Blues." His eyes met Enzan's and there was a tense moment between them, as if they were gauging one another's authority before Enzan nodded, breaking the stare and directed the driver to head that way.

Rockman was fidgeting, wringing his hands together as he rocked back and forth on his heels—a habit he'd picked up during his time with Enzan. Searchman stared for a long moment at the oddity before reaching a hand out and set it on the blue navi's shoulder. The poor program nearly jumped through the roof at the touch.

"You're very upset about this, aren't you, Rockman?" The army navi asked quietly.

Rock's shoulder was tense under Search's hand and the orange-haired navi could feel the shaking from the stress. "You…could say that." The other replied, giving the other a weak, but slightly cheeky grin. The army-clad navi didn't reply verbally for a moment, silently looking over Rockman, analyzing the algorithms and functioning state the smaller was in before speaking.

"You're on the verge of crashing,"

The blue haired navi looked away, the slightest look of shame and child-like shyness had crossed over his face. Searchman frowned. "Why?"

"Because… I want to be of use. I can't recharge, or rest, knowing Enzan's still working. He hasn't slept or rested, either. I refuse to leave him to search alone. I care too much; Netto's out there, and as long as he is, neither Enzan nor I will stop, as long as Blues is... We have to get them back." Rockman replied.

His voice had lost plenty of its usual bounce and cheeriness, he sounded exhausted, fatigued. He looked it, too, with the way his body shook every so often and the way his shoulders slumped and how he dragged himself a little as he walked closer.

The only thing that didn't look worn, were his eyes. They still glinted with light, a fierce determination there. The stubborn refusal to give in was clearly there. Searchman wasn't sure what he could say or do to sway that; he'd come up against the navi's will several times and lost. There was no getting around it, unless—

"What good would it do you if you found where Netto was and were too weak to do anything for him? In your state, you have no chance against..." He said sharply, praying silently that he words would work, because it was true. Rockman was in no state to fight or do anything major.

The blue navi looked down towards the ground, biting his lip. "I know, but—I don't… I don't want to miss anything. If I rest, I'll be useless if something happens."

Searchman sighed heavily. There was no real reasoning with the other. He looked helplessly out the visual screen, frowning at the scene at hand.

Enzan and Laika were glaring at one another, neither saying a word nor moving. It almost looked as if neither were breathing, as their chests barely moved they were so concentrated.

Enzan's jaw was clenched in a set fashion, his fists clenched at his sides in determination, glaring defiantly, his eyes darker from behind narrowed lids. It made his face look even gaunter and worn, his exhaustion showed like a bruise on pale skin.

Laika had his arms crossed, though one could see one hand fisted tightly into the material of his coat as if in restraint. His eyes were talons of a hawk, searing and sharp. They bore accusingly into Enzan's and neither wavered.

"You're weak, Ijuuin." Laika hissed lowly. "Your body will not function much longer. You'll get in my way."

Enzan's jaw clenched farther, knuckles whiter than a ghost. "I've pushed myself farther; if I must push myself to the breaking point—so be it, I'll go farther than that, if I have to. If anything, you'll be in _my_ way."

The tension had risen even higher when the dual-haired teen's lips quirked into a mocking smirk—a remnant of his former self. The aqua-haired teen's lips tightened, gloved hand shaking from contained rage. How dare he—that arrogant—did he not know his own limit?!

"You'll be of no use to Hikari in the state you are," He stated coldly. Enzan's eyes narrowed farther if possible, and there was a long, heavy silence between them. Moments later, everything came crashing down.

"You think I don't know that?" Enzan's voice was quiet, sounding lost. It took Laika by surprised. The dual-haired prodigy broke the stare, looking out the window. He looked open and vulnerable with the way his eyes looked helpless as he sat back against the limo's seat, the large space of it swallowing him and making him look even smaller.

"You think I don't know what I'm doing to myself? That I'm at my limit? I know; I know I am. But I can't—no—won't stop. As long as Blues and Netto are out there, I refuse to stop. I realize I'm not in the best of conditions, but so long as I can do something—anything—I will." His voice had raised several notes as he turned his eyes back to the Sharroian's, they were cold, filled with more determination.

"Whether you realize it, or understand, I _care_. Netto's the first person to make me feel like I'm something other than my father's tool. He made me realize my real self. And I refuse to give up on him, or Blues, because they never gave up on me. I _will_ get them both back, and if I must tear apart the cyber and real world to do it, I will. You won't stop me."

There was silence.

Laika stared hard at the Ijuuin heir, unspeaking. He received the same stare back at him, the dual-haired teen's eyes set, and there was no compromising or arguing. He broke the silence with a soft snort before averting his eyes. "Weak," He murmured again, though he didn't say anything else.

Several moments later, the limo pulled to a stop.

Getting out, Enzan looked around for a moment. "This is where the Dimensional Area was set," He said quietly as Laika stepped out behind him. The prodigy pulled Rockman's PET out of the holster at his side and flicked the screen up, checking it before looking around again before walking slowly over to a spot in the middle of the large area with Laika watching him.

"This is where I found Netto's vest, headband, and Rock's PET," He motioned to the ground next to him before looking around. "Here," He pushed a few buttons on the PET and the Sharroian took Searchman's PET out, opening his to look at what the other teen had sent him. "This is the battle data and the coordination movement of Netto from what we recorded at Sci-Lab. Blues appeared there, basing by Netto's reaction." He pointed up to a high rafter to the slight northeast.

Silence followed as Searchman and the aqua-haired soldier analyzed the data, moving slowly about as if following the movements themselves before coming to a halt beside Enzan. "The battle ended prematurely," Search's voice broke out after a moment. "The data is incomplete, so that means—"

"Yes, Blues threatened Netto with this," Enzan said, holding up Rock's PET and replaying the video Blues had sent.

"I see… That fool, of course Hikari would give up." Laika interjected with a snort. Blue eyes glared at him, but he ignored Enzan for the moment. "And you say the Dimensional Area did not shut down immediately?"

"Yes, which is strange considering they're made to deactivate the moment a Navi is dispelled…" The prodigy replied softly, looking around again.

"How large was the Dimensional Area?"

Enzan's eyes widened. "You don't think…"

"There's always a possibility,"

The teen's features were grim but he nodded and gave the other the area width and range coordination he'd logged into Rockman's PET.

"Searchman, perform a scan from the satellite, gather all the details you can on the area and the time between the battle's end to the time the dimensional area activated and calculate the closest areas one could walk to within that time," Laika ordered sharply.

"Hai, Laika-san." Search replied before beginning the scan.

Enzan's fingers tightened just a little around the PET. Why had he not thought of this? Surely, the possibility had been there within his mind, but he believed he knew well enough that it wouldn't have been needed, but… He frowned. He supposed that was what made Laika and Searchman better for this job and why he'd contacted them in the first place. They could overlook the situation with an emotional detachment to see the full situation and leave no possibility left.

"Enzan-kun…" Rockman's voice started timidly. The Ijuuin sighed heavily before bringing the device up and looked at the screen, seeing Rock's innocent face on the screen, looking tired and worn just as much as he felt—and probably looked, too. "Yes, Rockman?" He asked quietly. The small navi looked hesitant, but smiled slowly. "I know this is hard for you… Having to ask for help from Laika-san… But… I think—I mean, I know Netto would be proud of you. And I'm proud, too. You've…come far, Enzan-kun. From being so cold and withdrawn when we first met you… Look at where you are now."

Enzan stared down at the screen, shock and surprise written across his face. The blue-clad navi's gentle green eyes stared back at the other, a smile on their face, making some of the tiredness there lift a little. "I'm glad you and Netto-kun met, because if you hadn't, you'd still be like that. And that would be sad. I'm glad I've got the opportunity to know you just as well as Netto-kun has, despite the situation it's happened in."

"Rockman…" The dual-haired prodigy's lips slowly curled upwards, the barest hints of a real smile showing through. "Thank you. I'm glad I met Netto, too. And you as well, Rock." The navi's smile widened, but before he could say anything more, Searchman's voice cut through.

"Scan complete."

"Good work, Searchman." Laika praised, looking over the data Search compiled. "According to the data… There are only three places one could get to before the Dimensional Area fell." He replied after a moment, closing the top of his PET and sliding it into its holster before beginning to walk away. "Let's go."

Enzan frowned darkly at the Sharroian's uncaring nature, but pushed it aside and followed after the other teen.

--

Netto woke up slowly, eyes fluttering weakly. He didn't recognize where he was, but he expected that by now. He pushed himself into a sitting position, yawning a little. Resting in the Cyberworld was different than sleeping in the real one. He felt rested, yes, recharged, though that was from the data half. His physical, real self still was tired. He wanted sleep. The energy was enough, though.

He slowly got up and looked around. It was a cyber version of a house, he supposed. He'd been lying on a bed, the room was mostly bare. Just the fundamentals of the place: carpet, a table and a few chairs, and no decorations. He sighed heavily. He wanted to leave, but he knew better of it. He wasn't even sure where he was; and if he did leave, how would he find his way around? He'd never been in the net before and what places he'd been to, Dark Blues had taken him there.

As it was, he never had a great sense of direction even in the real world. With another sigh, he let himself fall back onto the bed, staring bored-like up at the plain ceiling.

"Mama… Papa… Rock… Meiru-chan… Enzan-kun… Everyone…" He whispered softly, tears welling at the corners of his eyes again. He didn't let them fall and blinked them away, using the back of his gloved hand to wipe them away. He let his hand rise farther up and ran it through his silvery-white locks of hair.

He sat up once more just as the door on the far side of the room opened. Netto stared back at Dark Blues as he stepped in before he averted his eyes again. "What now?" He asked in a tired voice. The teen was beyond exhausted mentally and emotionally. He didn't have the strength to put up with the other navi at this moment.

"Get up, Netto-kun. We're going." Came the sharp response.

Netto glared for a moment, but complied and stood slowly, turning to the bedside table and picked up his helmet that laid there and put it on before facing the dark navi again and stepped forward slowly. Dark Blues turned wordlessly and started walking, knowing the teen was following him.

It didn't take long to get to the destination the darkloid had in mind, and Netto had saw no real interesting things along the way. Just data, though it was a new experience as usually the other navi just linked them to other places instantly. He came to a stop behind Dark Blues when the other halted. He waited silently, though he wanted to know where they were and why.

The other turned to look at him and though he didn't want to stare back, he did. "I want you to link out of the net and into the real world here. I believe you are ready enough should problems arise." Dark Blues spoke, creating a window to the outside world. It was a place he recognized.

"That's..."

"Yes, Sci-Lab. You're to link out and infiltrate it. There is data in there that is essential to my plan. You've been in there plenty of times and you know all of your father's passes. You are to get back to the servers where all the data is held and link me into it, as I cannot reach it remotely. And you, by any means necessary, are _not_ to make contact with anyone, especially your father, understood?"

"I…"

Netto looked torn. He looked away from the screen that showed Sci-Lab and looked back at the Dark Navi, who only stared back. He looked back at the screen, chewing on his lip, his hands were clenched into fists. He was shaking a little.

"…Fine." He said softly, sounding defeated.

Without another word, he closed his eyes and with a shower of pixels, disappeared from the net, reappearing in the real world. He was in an alley that hid him from public sight, but allowed him the ability to see out. In the three weeks he'd been missing, he'd had been forced to learn how to come and go between the cyberworld and the real one. As such, he'd also had to learn how to use his data altering to disguise himself.

…Actually, he was a little too happy to do so, as he hated the current outfit he wore. Instantly, the dark shorts he wore digitized and became long pants, and his sleeveless shirt changed down to a long sleeved, but stayed the same colour and style. He pulled the PET from his waist and watched the screen as Dark Blues appeared into it.

"Remember what I said, Netto-kun. No letting anyone know it's you."

Netto nodded slowly, his expression slightly disheartened, but he took some comfort in the fact he'd at least be visiting an area he was so familiar with; even if it did mean he was going to be stealing from it. With a sigh, he slid Dark Blues' PET back into the holster at his waist and stepped out of the alleyway and started his trek over towards Sci-Lab.

--

Laika came to a stop, looking around with narrowed eyes, analyzing and surveying the area for anything. This was the third point that Searchman had confirmed to be within distance before the Dimensional Area fell. He barely even looked back as he heard the Ijuuin teen walk up behind him.

The area was surrounded by old crates and what seemed to be an old worn warehouse-type place that held surplus and the like. Enzan looked around with a mixture of curiosity and surprise at such a place, nearly forgetting the entire reason they were there, if not for Laika's voice cutting into his thoughts.

"Don't just stand there and stare off into space, Ijuuin. Start looking for anything out of place."

He glared over at the taller teen, biting back a remark as he heard the Sharroian mutter something along the lines of 'useless Japan Net Saviors' as he walked away to search the other side of the area. Tightening his jaw, the dual haired prodigy turned on his heel and started to walk, observing the area and looking for any signs of irregularity or off. He was fascinated by the older looking things that apparently had been long left abandoned.

"Such old history…" He murmured quietly. He knew now was not the time for such things, but it was hard to clear his mind from. He shook his head and sighed, once again beginning to look over the place, taking in the details and did his best not to get caught up in the history of it.

"Incompetent… How is he even considered a prodigy?" Laika muttered to himself as he scanned the area. Almost immediately, he'd honed in on several places that looked out of place and immediately went over each area to be sure.

"Laika-san, surely you must give him some credit… We've both noticed he's not at his best." Searchman's voice said from the PET he had in his hand. With a scoff, the aqua-haired soldier bent down for a moment to check over a pile of crates. "Nevertheless, he is still as incompetent and useless as Hikari. It's no wonder such things have happened: they're both fools."

The orange haired navi sighed, knowing there was no real arguing or changing his operator's mind. "Hai, Laika-san…"

By this time, he'd made his way over to another pile of crates and knelt down, inspecting them. His eyes focused and narrowed on one that had its lid slightly open and looked slightly different from the rest around it. Sliding Searchman's PET into its holder at his side, he pulled the crate over and pried the top off. His eyes widened briefly before narrowing once more.

He dumped the contents and with a soft flutter, black shorts and a white long sleeve shirt fell out. Picking the shirt up, he checked the sleeves. There were black patches where the elbows were. On the shorts, yellow stripes down the side. He picked up both articles and stood, turning. "Ijuuin,"

Enzan's attention diverted from the place and looked back. His mouth opened slightly in agape when he noticed what the other Net Savior had in his hands. "That's…"

"Hikari's clothes, apparently," Came the dry remark. "Which means he must have changed… That leaves many open possibilities as to what he could look like now."

The red vested boy's bangs shadowed over their eyes for a few moments before looking up. "Blues is smart; he knew I would try this. He must have thought all of this through—but how could he…? Perhaps…I never knew him as well as I thought…"

Rockman's voice cut in. "Don't think that, Enzan-kun. I know Blues well, too. It's because he knows you know that he does this. He knows your mind as well as you know his and the only reason he's one step ahead of you is because he's expecting you to be stringed along by what he lays down for you."

"You're right," Enzan agreed, "I've been foolish; letting him get to my mind."

"Let's go," Laika replied sharply. He was already several feet away with his back turned. "We still have analyzing to do."

With a nod of encouragement from Rock, the dual-haired heir to IPC nodded and walked after the Sharroian back to the limo.

--

"Sci-Lab… Papa…" Netto whispered under his breath, biting his lip as he slowly entered the large building. He did his best to keep his expression neutral as he walked past many of the people in the lobby and made himself look as if he belonged and knew what he was doing. He was not questioned at all.

It wasn't until he got to the seventh floor via the stairs that his real work had begun. He took a fairly large breath, steeling his nerves and looked around the area he was all too familiar with. He swallowed and stepped forward hesitantly, before setting he jaw in a determined way. He wanted to get this over as quickly as possible.

He set forward down the hall, knowing full well what he was going to be doing and he prayed to any deity and his father that they forgive him for this.

* * *

**DHC:** There you go, people! This chapter wasn't meant to hold any action or too much emotional-ness since you had much of that the last chapter. Do you know how hard it is writing Axess!Laika and Enzan in the same scene without Netto around as a medium to keep them from being at one another's throat? It's a pain in the ass, seriously. Anyway, I hope I have them all in character, it has been so long since I've watched the series and done anything with EXE really, so I hope I'm not too out of it! Leave me a few lines of love if you enjoyed this chapter! I love it when you people review and have faith in me even though I've not updated in so long! Hopefully you can expect an update for Looking At Life In A New Perspective as well. Anyway, much love, people!


	6. Chapter 6

**DHC:** So, really... I did promise an update, but... Well, I dunno if it's what you all will expect or not. But anyway! I hope it's good!

* * *

Netto slowly glanced around the corner of the long corridor, checking to make sure no one was around. Once he was sure, he stepped out and started running down the long corridor. It didn't take long to get to the other side and once he was there, he slid to a stop before crouching down, pressing his back flat against the wall. If he weren't in such a grim mindset, he would've joked to himself about feeling like he were in some kind of spy movie, but he was too concerned with other thoughts to even process it.

He knew Scilab's security well, having been here so many times before. But even a simple mistake would be bad. Thinking quick, he glanced up towards the security camera aligned on both sides of the next hall. He knew there was a blind-spot and a few seconds delay in their movement. If he could time it right-

He studied the movements of the camera for a good three minutes before nodding to himself. When he pulled himself up into a standing position, his hands were shaking. Butterflies in his stomach threatened to overtake him, but his fear of Dark Blues' retribution kept him from losing his nerve. He looked back towards the cameras again, watching intently with baited breath. _Now!_ His mind screamed at him and he all but flung himself across the hallway towards the far end of the wall between the cameras and into the blindspot.

His heart was racing, adrenaline coursing through him and if he hadn't been shaking so badly, or so shaken up inwardly, he would've congratulated himself. Slowly, he waited until the security camera swung past and he darted under it into the next hallway. He silently kept going down the hall, suddenly there was light coming from one of the doorways there, the sound of a keyboard clicking echoed. Slowly he peeked in once he reached it, eyes widening as he saw Meijin there, frowning over the work he was doing.

Gulping he stepped away from the doorway quickly, pulling his PET out. "Blues, there's someone in the room, I can't get past. What do I do?" He whispered softly, looking a bit panicked. The dark Navi frowned, silent for a while. "…Use your powers. Change your appearance. In all actuality, you could mimic anyone."

Netto frowned as well, but nodded, sticking the PET back the holster. He took a breath, willing his entire form to change. It was hard to concentrate when he knew all it took was a simple sound for Meijin's attention to turn towards him. Once he finished, he looked down at himself. Lips set in a grim line, he nodded. It would have to do.

Calming his raging nerves down, he squared back his shoulders and lifted his head a bit higher and stepped away from the wall and walked past the doorway.

Meijin looked up, brows raising as he heard the sound of footsteps passing and blinked when he saw who it was. He slowly stood up and went out into the hall, calling after the figure. "Enzan,"

Netto's heart nearly burst in his chest, as it was he jumped a little, before turning to face the other. "Y-yes?"

The other frowned as he looked the other over critically. "I thought you were with Laika analyzing the data you found?"

Hope somehow found itself embedding into his core, Enzan had called Laika? Then… He wanted to smile, but knew he couldn't. "I was, but… Laika only brushed me off saying I would get in his way," He put in, trying to sound annoyed.

Meijin's brow rose, but he nodded in understanding. Taking a closer look, he squinted behind his shades. "You don't look so pale now, did Rock force you to finally eat and sleep?"

Netto's heart sank; Enzan hadn't been sleeping or eating? Oh god, he felt so guilty now. He wanted nothing more than to spill everything to the man before him, but he knew he couldn't. Instead, he swallowed a little shakily. "Y-yeah, he did… I feel a bit better, but I know I can't stop."

Meijin sighed heavily. "Gambatte, Enzan. You'll be able to find Netto and recover Blues. Just be sure to take care of yourself, too."

"H-hai… I'll try." He let his weariness show through his voice as he gave the man a thin smile. The other nodded before turning and going back into his office.

Netto sighed with relief, before continuing down the hall. Now he could make it past all the security cameras without needing to dart between them. Breathing a sigh of relief, he kept walking.

He made it back to the restricted area with no problem. He entered the passcode and stepped inside.

"I'm in," He murmured grimly.

"Head to the main computer and link me in." Dark Blues responded.

Wordlessly, Netto walked towards the back of the room towards the largest computer. He stopped infront of it, looking at how much data there actually was in it. He hesitated for a long moment, biting on his lip. He didn't want to do this; he knew how much damage that could be caused with this, but…

He grabbed the PET at his side and aimed the Wireless Signal at the port. "Plug in," He whispered.

At once, Dark Blues' frame pixilated before appearing inside of the computer, looking around at the datascape. Netto stared at the screen. "What are you looking for?"

"It's a specific file that contains all of your father's notes." Dark Blues answered.

"Wh-what?" Netto cried.

"Hush, do you want someone to hear you?" Dark Blues hissed.

Netto glared. "Why are papa's files so important?"

"That's none of your business." The other replied, before disappearing farther into the network.

Netto scowled darkly, but waited. He heard footsteps coming, so he glanced out of the doorway to see it was the real Enzan and Laika heading this way from the opposite hall he'd come from. Ducking out of sight, he quickly changed his form yet again.

When Dark Blues returned, his brow arched at the new change, but he too heard the footsteps and put two and two together. He linked out of the computer just in time as the two stepped into the room.

"Ah, Hikari-hakase." Laika said formally as he gave a small headbow.

Netto swallowed heavily before nodding back, pushing a smile onto his face. "Hello, Laika, Enzan-kun."

"Hikari-hakase, we've got the data. Will you help us analyze it?" Enzan asked.

Netto wracked his brain quickly for a response before he calmly shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't right now. I'd like to help, but…" He grimaced. "I've got something else needing my immediate attention."

The two nodded at him. "Thank you anyway, Hikari-hakase." Laika murmured.

Giving another nod, he bypassed the two and exited the door. "Good luck, you two." He said before he went down the hall the two had come from. He rounded the corner and walked down the stairs to the next floor to get out of the restricted area. Once there, he changed back to his normal self and walked the rest of the way down.

His heart nearly stopped when he saw his father coming up the stairs. He kept his eyes straight ahead and did everything he could not to fidget. His father had glanced at him briefly but said nothing and continued on his way.

Netto knew where he was going and knew he had to get out fast. Once everyone found out about the switch, they were going to be looking for him.

Hikari, Yuuichirou made it up the steps to find Laika and Enzan in the data room. "Do you two need any help?"

The two turned and looked at him strangely. "Didn't you just say that you were busy, Hikari-hakase?" Enzan asked confusedly.

"Huh? I just got here…" He replied.

Laika shook his head. "No, you came directly out of this room and said you had other matters to look after and left."

"…" Yuuichirou went silent.

Just then, Meijin came out of his office, saw them and walked over, looking surprised. "Enzan? I thought you were alone. You said Laika had told you, you were useless to this?"

It was Enzan's turned to look confused. He shook his head. "No, I've been here with Laika this entire time…"

There was another silence. Just then, Yuuichirou looked up. "Could it have been…?" He murmured aloud.

"What is it, Hikari-hakase?" Laika asked.

"There was a boy I never saw before leaving just as I was coming up…could they have been…?" He trailed off.

Laika and Enzan looked towards one another, before back to the doctor. "What did he look like?" Enzan asked.

"He had silver hair, brown eyes, a red shirt and black pants, why?"

Laika and Enzan's eyes lit up. As one they began to bolt down the hall. "We'll tell you later! We have to go after them!"

Meijin and Yuuichirou looked towards one another. "I have a feeling things are going to get a lot more tedious," Meijin said to him.

"I think you're right."

Enzan and Laika bolted out of Sci-Lab and looked around. Faintly, down the road ahead could they see a crimson blur bolting around the corner so they followed in that direction.

"Oh, shit, oh, shit." Netto kept repeating to himself. He darted into an alley and ducked down low under a fence and kept running. Finally, when He thought he'd lost them, he turned down another alley until no one could see him and linked into the cyberworld.

When Enzan and Laika made it to the alley, no one was there. "Dammit!" Laika cursed. Enzan collapsed against the wall, heaving for air. His face was red and he looked as if he were to pass out.

"I told you, you were useless…" Laika spat, turning coldly away.

A loud thud made him turn back and he saw the teen's body on the ground, wracking with hard shakes and twitches, the teen's eyes wide and glossed with fear, his mouth open but no sounds other than gasps coming out. Laika's own eyes widened before he quickly slid off his coat and draped it over the boy's form and placed his hands on the hardest shaking parts of the boy's body and began to knead the muscles.

"L-Laika-san! W-what's going on with Enzan-kun's vitals?" Rockman asked with worry.

"He's so exhausted his body locked up and the emotional stress has triggered a seizure." Laika explained as he kept calm and kept rubbing the tense muscles in the Ijuuin's body. After what seemed like an eternity of shaking and jerking, Enzan's body finally gave one last hard wrack before going completely still and Enzan's eyes immediately slipped shut and his lunged heaved.

"It's over." Laika murmured quietly.

"…Hurt so bad…" Enzan whispered.

"You need rest." Laika said.

"I can't…" Enzan heaved back, blearily opening his eyes.

"You'll die if this keeps up, then what good would you do to Hikari, then?" Laika reasoned.

Enzan was silent.

Moments later, the aqua-haired male blinked in shock as he saw the other male's eyes well up and tears began to fall down his face.

"I know," Enzan whispered, eyes opening again to pierce the other with a look that was filled with complete emptiness.

"I know, but I… What else am I to do? If it were your Navi, and your best friend, what would you do? Could you honestly say you wouldn't be like this, too?"

Laika looked away, unsure. He didn't answer for a long while.

"I don't know. But you can't deny your own body's needs, either."

Enzan sluggishly pushed himself into a sitting position, leaning against the wall.

"You need to rest," Laika urged softly.

"…Okay," Enzan finally conceded, knowing he could no longer argue, and couldn't find the will to. He pushed himself to stand, slumping heavily.

Laika picked his coat back up, before in an uncharacteristic act of kindness, placed it around the smaller teen. "Your body's still in shock, keep it on until the smaller trembles in your system stop." He said.

Enzan looked at the other in surprise, before he nodded. "…Thanks."

"Let's go back." Laika urged softly.

Enzan nodded, taking a hesitant step. He tried to take another one, but his knees started to give out. Laika moved quickly and caught his falling form.

Enzan let out a frustrated noise, the tears falling again. "Dammit, you were right… I am useless." He said brokenly.

Laika hesitated, but pulled the teen's body against his own and in another movement, scooped him up bridal style. "Search, get us a taxi."

"Hai, Laika-san…"

Enzan went quiet, letting his eyes shut. Laika slowly back out of the alley to the street. In that short walk, Enzan fell asleep against him. He frowned.

"Will Enzan-kun be okay…?" Rock asked quietly.

"With the rest, he should make a fair recovery." Laika answered. "You should go offline, too, Rockman." He answered.

"…Okay. Just…wake me up when Enzan-kun wakes, okay? …I don't want to miss anything." The Navi responded.

Laika nodded. "Very well."

With that, the PET on Enzan's waist went dark, signaling the Navi shutting down into sleep mode to conserve power. He'd set the PET on the charger once they got back to the Ijuuin's estate.


End file.
